Florida Caverns
State Park

Did you know
that Florida has caves as beautiful as the famous Mammoth Cave and
Carlsbad Caverns? Florida Caverns State Park is near Marianna in
northwest Florida. The beautiful Florida Cavern that is available
for tours is a series of connected rooms. The rooms contain dazzling
formations of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and other fascinating
features.

These features were created when surface water seeped through the
limestone rock, dissolving the calcium. As the water containing
dissolved calcium dripped from cracks in the ceiling, the process
formed stalactites. Stalactites grew down from the ceiling. The
water containing calcium that dripped from stalactites formed stalagmites
below. They grew up from the cavern floor. Columns eventually formed
when some stalactites and stalagmites met. The creation of these
formations took tens of thousands of years.

In addition
to stalactites, stalagmites, and columns, there are features that
resemble soda straws, ribbons, and draperies. There are fossils,
pools of water, and terraces. Many of these formations have been
given names, such as the bacon rock, the South America pool, and
the wedding cake.

Altogether, there are 10 acres of caves. During the Seminole Wars
many Native Americans hid in the caves. The Civilian Conservation
Corp (CCC) developed the cave for visitors in the 1930s. The CCC
removed mud, widened passages, and excavated where necessary to
provide headroom.

The guided tour is _ mile long through lighted passages. Park rangers
offer guided tours several times each day. The cave tour takes about
35-40 minutes. It begins about 60 feet below the surface. The temperature
in the cave remains at 65 degrees all year. Visitors wind and loop
their way through limestone, eventually emerging at the surface
a couple of hundred yards from the entrance.

Other caves are
available to visit only by Florida Park Service permits. The caverns
are fragile. The slightest disturbance by humans can destroy these delicate
natural wonders. Some of the caves are available only for scientific
research.

The caverns are
home to blind salamanders and crayfish, as well as the endangered gray
bat. The easily disturbed bats are not found in the tour cave, but live
in the numerous smaller caves found in the park. Caves inhabited by
gray bats are protected under an Endangered Species Act.

The park contains a wide variety of wildlife and plants. Many are quite
rare. Woodpeckers, barred owls, beavers, alligators, rare Barbours
map turtles, and alligator snapping turtles can be seen. American beech,
southern magnolia, white oak, and dogwood trees are prominent throughout
the park. Because this has been a state park since the 1930s, many of
the trees have reached an impressive size. Wildflowers appear at different
times of the year.

The parks nature trail goes along the edge of a bluff next to
the river floodplain. In some places the bluff is 30 feet high. It overlooks
a forest. At the end of the trail is the Tunnel Cave, a hundred-foot
passage through a section of the bluff. This passage is very popular
with visitors.

The Chipola River flows underground in the park at a river sink. It
reappears several hundred feet downstream, forming a natural bridge.
In the early 1900s, loggers cut a ditch across this natural bridge to
float logs downstream.

Visitors can take a guided tour through the large cavern. They can camp
out and swim in the Blue Hole Spring. They can hike on trails and canoe
on the Chipola River. Visiting Florida Caverns State Park is one of
the outstanding experiences available in Florida.

How Florida
was Formed

Throughout most of its history Florida has been under water. In
earliest times, Florida was part of Gondwanaland, the super continent
that later divided into Africa and South America. There is evidence
that Florida separated from Gondwanaland about 300 million years
ago.

Florida eventually found itself wedged between Gondwanaland and
North America when they combined to form the super continent Pangea.
When Pangea began to break up, Florida remained behind with North
America.

Florida slipped slowly beneath the waves to become part of North
Americas continental shelf. Coral, shellfish, and fish skeletons
piled up. This created a layer of limestone hundreds (in some
places thousands) of feet thick.

As the Appalachian Mountains eroded, sand and clay were deposited
over Floridas limestone layer. When the sea level fell,
Florida finally emerged from the seas as part of the North American
mainland.

Because limestone is porous, water gradually dissolves the rock
and forms cracks and passages. The limestone layer of the state
is honeycombed with underground rivers. Where the rivers break
through to the surface, springs and sinkholes are found.

In the center of the Florida panhandle, the rock has been pushed
up and there are some sizable hills. This area includes numerous
caves. One of the best of these cave systems has been developed
for touring in Florida Caverns State Park.